Former staff and pupils went back to school when the wraps came off a new housing development in the former Chapelpark Primary in Forfar.
Three properties in Academy Court were opened to the public on Saturday – one in the original B-listed building, which was also the original Forfar Academy, as well as a three-storey town house and a flat in the former gym hall and dining room.
The £5.5 million development has created 29 affordable homes for social rent, six of them suitable for households with particular needs.
Angus Council invested £3.6m from the housing capital programme, topped up with £1.6m from Scottish Government and £300k from the ring fenced Affordable Housing Account.
Among those going back to school was former pupil David Webster, 83, who went to Forfar Academy from 1947 to 1952.
He reminisced about the teachers and the classrooms and praised the school’s transformation into housing.
He said: “They have done a marvellous job.”
However, the construction of three bin recess areas at the entrance to the site has been criticised.
Mary and Les Craib, who were pupils at Forfar Academy from 1953-57 and 1949-52 respectively, said they were in the wrong place.
Mary, 77, added: “I don’t like them and think they spoil the look of the building.
“It would have been better if they were hidden.”
Others on social media questioned their location and the need for such a high specification of finish.
A council spokesman insisted the bins added “positively” to the project design and helped screen the site and give tenants a degree of privacy.
He added that they had been designed in consultation with Historic Scotland.
The spokesman said: “The main building being listed should not prevent additions being made to meet the requirements of modern living.”
He said the decision was taken to enclose them with boundary walls to prevent rubbish being blown around
“The overall design of the stone walls with pitched, slated roofs, is similar to the traditional Scottish ‘Doocot’. They are ventilated to reduce odour,” he added.
